Natural resources (Canada), Natural resources

MAJOR NATURAL RESOURCES
Canada has vast reserves of natural resources which have formed the basis for the country's economic development. The most plentiful and economically significant resources are iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, salt, potash, silver, oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, fish, timber and wildlife. Canada is one of the world's leading exporters of unprocessed and processed natural resource products. The mining, mineral processing, fisheries and forestry industries are major employers and sources of revenue across the country. This has made virtually every sector of Canada's resource industry vulnerable to market changes and price fluctuations. In particular, Canada's mining sector has been hurt by long-term downturns in the price of several major mineral commodities. The impact of short-term fluctuations in prices and long-term decline in demand is especially acute at the local level, where across Canada resource towns dependent on one or perhaps two primary commodities are frequently hit by job losses and plant closures.Responding to these economic problems is a significant political issue at the municipal and provincial levels, as resources are under the jurisdiction of the provinces. Canada's natural resource industries (mining, fisheries and forestry) have also come under increasing domestic and international criticism for the environmental impact of their operations. The need to balance environmental concerns with the economic importance of the natural resource sector is a major challenge for government, one that will make resource management and stewardship policy a significant political issue in Canada in the future.

Oil
Canada is the seventh largest oil producer in the world, accounting for around 4 per cent of global oil production. Conventional and crude oil production in 2010 totalled 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd). In 2010, exports of heavy and light crude oil totalled about 800 million barrels. Canada sends 99 per cent of its crude oil exports to the US, accounting for 17 per cent of US crude imports, making Canada the single largest foreign supplier of oil to the US and affording it crucial strategic importance in terms of US energy security. The key to the future development of Canadian oil production is world price: as the world price rises, the exploitation of oil reserves becomes more economically viable and profitable, which has a huge impact on Canada given the amount of unconventional deposits in the country.Oil production has been on the rise since the late 1990s, largely due to steadily increasing exploitation of the vast oil sands of northern Alberta. The Athabaskan oil sands account for approximately 75 per cent of Canada's oil sand reserves. Other major oil sand fields include the Peace River, Wabasca and Cold Lake fields, all in Alberta. Production at these locations stood at over 1 million bpd in 2010, and analyses by the Alberta provincial government indicate that this level of production could reach three million bpd by 2020 and possibly even five million bpd by 2030. Production at the oil sands deposits accounted for over 60 per cent of Alberta's total

The complete article appears in the following publication:
Publication Title	Sentinel Security Assessment - North America
Publication date	Nov 09, 2011
Section	Natural resources
Publication synopsis	Jane's Sentinel Country Risk Assessments provide you with in-depth, up-to-date and accurate data and analysis on the latest events and trends in political, security and economic affairs. They provide a comprehensive one-stop information source covering 190 states and 30 territories. Jane's worldwide intelligence network of over 120 expert contributors delivers incisive and impartial analysis to help you protect your economic, strategic and political interests. The new Security file allows prompt and reliable analysis on every country's security, primarily in the areas of terrorism and insurgency state stability international relations organised crime proliferation and procurement Political files provide overviews of the political system, political actors and parties, cabinet lists, civil society and internal history. External files detail all relevant bilateral and multilateral relations and history. Defence files offer profound analysis of, and information on, all services of a country's military, its size, capabilities, requirements, weaknesses, strengths and orders of battle.
North American countries	Bermuda Canada Greenland Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Untied States of America

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